How accurate is Birdsong's bird identifier?

It runs Google's Perch, a research-grade acoustic model covering nearly 15,000 species. When a call is ambiguous, we say so honestly and let you record a second clip to confirm, rather than guessing.

Is my recording stored?

No. Your audio is used to identify the bird in the moment and isn't saved to our servers. The birds you confirm are kept as cards in your own field journal; the recordings themselves are not.

Is the bird identifier free?

Yes — identify birds every day for free, no account required. Birdsong Pro ($3.99/mo or $39.99/yr) unlocks unlimited IDs, full field guides, your growing collection, and shareable Field Report cards.

Do I need an account or internet to identify a bird?

You'll need a connection to identify, since the AI runs in the cloud. No account is needed to try it — sign in with Google or email to save your field journal and sync it across devices.

Birdsong field guide

Boyd's Shearwater

Puffinus boydi

A small, pelagic seabird endemic to the Cape Verde Islands, distinguished by its dark brownish-black upperparts and starkly contrasting white underparts. It was historically considered a subspecies of either Audubon's or Little Shearwater but is now widely recognized as a distinct species.

What it sounds like

A rhythmic, high-pitched series of wheezing and cackling notes, typically described as a 'kerr-x-wher' sound emitted at night.

Reference call, compare with what you heard

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Rec. Magnus Robb · Cape VerdeCC BY-NC-SA Xeno-canto

Field notes

Named after Boyd Alexander, the British ornithologist who conducted extensive biological surveys of the Cape Verde archipelago.
Breeding is strictly limited to the Cape Verde Islands, with major colonies found on the uninhabited islets of Raso and Branco.
Unlike many related shearwaters, it features distinct dark undertail coverts and lacks a white patch behind the eye.
The species is highly nocturnal at its breeding sites to minimize the risk of predation from gulls and birds of prey.
Recent mitochondrial DNA analysis confirms its evolutionary divergence from both the Little Shearwater and the Audubon’s Shearwater lineages.

Habitat

Pelagic waters in the eastern Atlantic, nesting in volcanic rock crevices and soil burrows on offshore islets.

Range

Endemic breeder to the Cape Verde archipelago; disperses into surrounding Macaronesian waters.

Similar & commonly confused birds

Balearic ShearwaterPuffinus mauretanicus Bannerman's ShearwaterPuffinus bannermani Barolo ShearwaterPuffinus baroli Black-vented ShearwaterPuffinus opisthomelas Bryan's ShearwaterPuffinus bryani Christmas ShearwaterPuffinus nativitatis Fluttering ShearwaterPuffinus gavia Galapagos ShearwaterPuffinus subalaris

Heard a Boyd's Shearwater?

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